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In Their Own Words
Safeguarding Nursing Science Amid Political Retrenchment
Experts Say Nursing Ethics Can Help Researchers Confront Federal Disinvestment, Defend Science, and Advance Health Equity
Print:
The following excerpt was published in the Online Journal of Issues in Nursing on June 23, 2025.
Science is under threat in the United States. This includes nursing science, which has implications for the health and wellbeing of the people for whom nurses care. The reverberations of this threat have been enormous, particularly as the Trump administration retracts funding both promised and awarded. These actions have begun to shut down lifesaving research efforts and stymie the collection of federal data that people rely on to move through the world safely. This includes critical research focused on quality of life, symptom management, and family health that is central to the health and well-being of the public. The reality is that lifesaving science is under threat at the same time as the civil rights of the American people are profoundly compromised.
With this column, we take up the question of nursing ethics and how it might prepare us to meet the challenges to science and health equity we currently face. We do this by first quickly accounting for the background of these politically-charged challenges. We go on to examine the social contract of nursing ethics and the ethical underpinnings of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We conclude with some thoughts for moving forward, together, to meet the moment.
Read the full piece here.
Authors
Catherine Robichaux, PhD, RN
Adjunct Faculty of Nursing,
Saint Gianna School of Health Sciences
Jess Dillard-Wright, PhD, RN
Associate Dean of Equity & Inclusion and
Associate Professor, Elaine Marieb College of Nursing, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Connie Ulrich, PhD, RN
Professor, Biobehavioral Health Sciences, Penn Nursing; Professor, Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Perelman School of Medicine
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